Welcome to the KPL Book Club Blogspot

Welcome to the internet home of the Kilbourn Public Library (KPL) Book Club. The KPL Book Club meets at the library once a month. A book is chosen for each month and then members of the book club meet the last Monday and Wednesday of every month for lively discussion and treats. While we can’t offer you treats via the internet, this KPL Reads blog was designed for those of you who would like to participate in the book club but don’t have time to join us at meetings. Each month KPL staff will post discussion topics and questions to get you “talking”. Join in the discussion by adding a post to the blog. Click on the word comments below the post you want to "talk" about and write your comment. Be sure to check back often to see feedback and comments.

Wednesday, September 28, 2016

The Kilbourn Book Discussion Group is reading Shotgun Lovesongs by Nickolas Butler for the October book selection.  Nickolas Butler was raised in Eau Claire, Wisconsin.  He lives on sixteen acres of land in rural Wisconsin with his wife and two children.  

Welcome to Little Wing.  It's a place like hundreds of others, nothing special, really.  But for four friends--all born and raised in this small Wisconsin town--it is home.  And now they are men, coming into their own, or struggling to do so. 

One of them never left, still working the family farm that has been tilled for generations.  But others felt the need to move on, with varying degrees of success.  One trades commodities, another took to the rodeo circuit, and one of them even hit it big as a rock star.  And then there's Beth, a woman who has meant something special in each of their lives. 

Now all four are brought together for a wedding.  Little Wing seems even smaller than before.  While lifelong bonds are still strong, there are stresses--between the friends, between husbands and wives.  There will be heartbreak, but there will also be hope, healing, even heroism as these memorable people learn the true meaning of adult friendship and love.

Shotgun Lovesongs is a truly remarkable book--a novel that once read will never be forgotten.

Many of the characters in Shotgun Lovesongs regret specific moments in their life, moments that (perhaps) other people may not regret at all.  Do you feel regret is a useful emotion?  What do you regret?  Which characters (and their regrets) do you identify with?

Fame seems to be an important theme or consideration throughout Shotgun Lovesongs.  Do you feel that the novel critiques fame?  Celebrates fame?  What do think about the cult of personality in America?  Do you care about celebrity?  Read tabloids?  Why?

Some critics have said that Shotgun Lovesongs is overly sentimental.  Do you think this novel is sentimental?  Is sentimentality something to be altogether avoided in fiction?

Beth and Leland share one night of romance.  This incident happened when neither character was married or even dating someone.  And yet, it is enough to unravel lifelong friendships.  What do you think about this?  Could you relate to characters and their reactions?

There is a kind of dichotomy in this novel between city and country.  Has your own life been subject to the push-pull of living rural vs. living urban?  What have you had to sacrifice to live where you live?  Do you see it as a sacrifice?

Let us know what you think of Shotgun Lovesongs.

Wednesday, September 14, 2016

The Kilbourn Public Library Book Club selection for September is Everything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng.  This is an exquisite debut novel about a Chinese American family living in 1970s small-town Ohio. 

Lydia is dead.  But they don't know this yet...   Lydia is the favorite child of Marilyn and James Lee;  their middle daughter, a girl who inherited her mother's bright blue eyes and her father's jet-black hair.  Her parents are determined that Lydia will fulfill the dreams they were unable to pursue.

When Lydia's body is found in the local lake, the delicate balancing act that has been keeping the Lee family together tumbles into chaos, forcing them to confront the long-kept secrets that have been slowly pulling them apart. 

A profoundly moving story of family, history, and the meaning of home, Everything I Never Told You is both a gripping page-turner and a sensitive family portrait.

Pick up a copy of the book at the Kilbourn Public Library or on the Bookmobile and join the discussion.

Think about the relationships between Nath, Lydia, and Hannah.  How do the siblings both understand and mystify one another?

Why do you think Lydia is the favorite child of James and Marilyn?  How does this pressure affect Lydia, and what kind of impact do you think it has on Nath and Hannah?

How did you react to the "Marco Polo" pool scene with James and Nath?  What do you think of James's decision?

What is the meaning of the novel's title?  To whom do the "I" and "you" refer?

What would have happened if Lydia had reached the dock?  Do you think she would have been able to change her parents' views and expectations of her?

Think about the relationship Marilyn and her mother have to cooking and their roles as stay-at-home mothers.  Do you think one is happier or more satisfied?

There's so much that the characters keep to themselves. What do you wish they had shared with one another?  Do you think an ability to better express themselves would have changed the outcome of the book?

Let us know what you think!